Pfizer inc (NYSE: PFE) Q3 2025 Earnings Call dated Nov. 04, 2025
Corporate Participants:
Francesca DeMartino — Chief Investor Relations Officer and Senior Vice President
Albert Bourla — Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Dave Denton — Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President
Aamir Malik — Chief U.S. Commercial Officer and Executive Vice President
Andrew Baum — Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Executive Vice President
Chris Boshoff — Chief Scientific Officer and President, Research & Development
Analysts:
Vamil Divan — Analyst
David Risinger — Analyst
Asad Haider — Analyst
Geoff Meacham — Analyst
Courtney Breen — Analyst
Terence Flynn — Analyst
Akash Tewari — Analyst
Kerry Holford — Analyst
Mohit Bansal — Analyst
Alex Hammond — Analyst
Chris Schott — Analyst
Umer Raffat — Analyst
Steve Scala — Analyst
Evan Seigerman — Analyst
Rajesh Kumar — Analyst
Presentation:
Operator
Good day, everyone, and welcome to Pfizer’s Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. Today’s call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Francesca DeMartino, Chief Investor Relations Officer and Senior Vice President. Please go ahead, ma’am.
Francesca DeMartino — Chief Investor Relations Officer and Senior Vice President
Good morning, and welcome to Pfizer’s earnings call. I’m Francesca DeMartino, Chief Investor Relations Officer. On behalf of the Pfizer team, thank you for joining us. This call is being made available via audio webcast at pfizer.com. Earlier this morning, we released our results for the third quarter of 2025 via a press release that is available on our website at pfizer.com.
I’m joined today by Dr. Albert Bourla, our Chairman and CEO, and Dave Denton, our CFO. Albert and Dave have some prepared remarks, and we will then open the call for questions. Members of our leadership team will be available for the Q&A session.
Before we get started, I want to remind you that we will be making forward-looking statements and discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures. I encourage you to read the disclaimers in our slide presentation, the press release we issued this morning and the disclosures in our SEC filings, which are all available on the IR website on pfizer.com.
Forward-looking statements on the call are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties, speak only as of the call’s original date, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any of the statements.
With that, I will turn the call over to Albert.
Albert Bourla — Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Francesca. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our call. The past few months have been pivotal for Pfizer. We’re really excited about our future and confident that we’re in a strong position to continue delivering value for patients and our shareholders. Our third quarter performance shows how we continued to execute with discipline and focus even while taking on major strategic efforts. I’ll discuss highlights, including our agreement with the US government, which has provided greater clarity for our strategic investments in future innovation and growth. Additionally, with our proposed acquisition of Metsera and the progress we’ve made since closing our licensing agreement with 3SBio and key upcoming catalysts, the strength of our R&D pipeline continues to grow.
Our landmark agreement with the US government was an important milestone because it removed uncertainty on two critical policy fronts. We successfully addressed the administration’s call to lower prescription drug costs and align prices with those in other developed countries. And we will have a three-year grace period from certain US tariffs with our commitment to further invest in manufacturing in the US.
Now, I want to address our proposed acquisition of Metsera. We believe that Novo Nordisk’s offer is illusory and cannot constitute a superior proposal under the terms of our merger agreement with Metsera because it violates antitrust laws, and there is a high risk it will never be consummated.
We are encouraged by the US Federal Trade Commission’s decision to grant early termination of the HSR waiting period, which is unprecedented during a government shutdown and clears the path to completing the transaction following the Metsera shareholder vote on November 13th.
With the pending legal action we have taken to enforce and preserve Pfizer’s rights under the merger agreement, we’ll be limited in the details we can address further during today’s call.
What I can say is that our belief in the promise of the Pfizer and Metsera combination is strong and unwavering. We are confident it will create substantial value for shareholders and advance innovation to bring important medicines to patients in the high-growth therapeutic area of obesity. Plus, we believe Pfizer will have distinct advantages in developing and delivering new potential treatments because of our proven scientific and commercial strengths.
Our R&D infrastructure has global reach and extensive experience running clinical trials in large populations. Our commercial teams have well-established capabilities in bringing primary care therapies to patients. We’ve proven we can drive leading clinical, commercial, and strategic momentum with key cardiovascular brands such as Eliquis, Lipitor, Norvasc, and the Vyndaqel family, and we plan to execute in a similar way with Metsera as we reinvigorate Pfizer’s cardiometabolic presence.
The licensing agreement with 3SBio is another way we’ve strategically enhanced our pipeline. Encouraging Phase 2 first-line metastatic colorectal cancer efficacy and safety data for SSGJ-707, the PD-1 x VEGF bispecific, was shared last month at the European Society for Medical Oncology meeting. Looking ahead, we’re excited to present additional clinical data at the upcoming Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer meeting.
We’re also encouraged by our discussions with regulators about our plans to unlock the potential of ‘707 with a robust clinical development program. As we look forward to executing with ‘707, Pfizer has distinct advantages. We have deep experience in the development of multi-specific antibody therapeutics and the ability to leverage unique combination regimens that make this promising cancer immunotherapy candidate a strong complement to our oncology portfolio.
We’ve also made progress in advancing other key programs in our late-stage R&D pipeline. This was reinforced by our presence at ESMO last month with over 45 abstracts, five late-breaking presentations, and recognition in Presidential Symposium.
Starting with the Presidential Symposium, new Phase 3 data demonstrate that Padcev, in combination with pembrolizumab, reduced the risk of recurrence and death by at least half for patients with cisplatin-ineligible muscle invasive bladder cancer when given before and after surgery. This is the first and only regimen to improve survival when used before and after standard of care in this patient population.
With these unprecedented data in hand, we see the potential to substantially increase the US addressable population with approximately 18,000 patients under the current label in metastatic urothelial cancer, and, if there are further positive data and it is approved, up to approximately 22,500 additional patients across both cis-eligible and cis-ineligible muscle invasive bladder cancer.
We also presented follow-up results from the PHAROS single-arm Phase 2 clinical trial supporting Braftovi and Mektovi as a standard of care for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer harboring a BRAF V600E mutation. This updated analysis showed a substantial median overall survival benefit of 47.6 months in treatment-naive patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer with a BRAF V600E mutation.
We’re pleased with the continued strong year-over-year growth of Braftovi and Mektovi, with a 30 percentage point increase in new patient starts since the October 2023 launch. We believe the results from the PHAROS trial could establish a new benchmark with targeted combination therapies for this population of patients. These results fortify the strength of our growing lung cancer portfolio that includes small molecules, ADCs, and our 707 bispecific. We are confident in our potential to deliver treatments across the lung cancer spectrum, a large and growing market expected to reach approximately $70 billion by 2030.
We also presented final overall survival results from the Phase 3 EMBARK trial evaluating Xtandi in combination with leuprolide and as a monotherapy in non-metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer with high-risk biochemical recurrence.
As the first and only ARI-based regimen to demonstrate overall survival benefit in this population, these results highlight the potential benefit of Xtandi in this earlier line treatment setting. This strengthens our position for a product that is experiencing strong demand growth in hormone-sensitive prostate cancer and rapid uptake in the approximate 16,000 US patient population with non-metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer with high-risk biochemical recurrence.
I want to mention another update about our programs in sickle cell disease. We are very pleased that, last month, the FDA concluded that Pfizer may resume enrollment for osivelotor studies outside of sub-Saharan Africa and in individuals who have not relocated from sub-Saharan Africa. We are still engaging with regulatory authorities to determine possible next steps for Oxbryta.
We’ll look forward to sharing more details in the months ahead about our key pipeline catalysts for 2026 and the coming years. With disciplined execution and our continued focus on key products both in the US and key International markets, we continued to build on our leadership positions within our commercial portfolio.
Our Vyndaqel family of products achieved 7% year-over-year global operational growth in the quarter. Strong demand reinforced that this is the foundation of treatment for patients with the heart condition of ATTR-cardiomyopathy, helping them live longer and avoid hospitalization.
We’re encouraged by our continued strong market leadership. In international, we achieved 40% growth in the quarter in total patients on treatment. In the US, our continued double-digit demand growth reflects strong diagnosis efforts, broad access and favorable affordability dynamics.
Nurtec continues to lead the oral CGRP class in primary care penetration in the US. In international, we achieved growth with continuous strong uptake in key markets. Globally, we achieved 22% year-over-year operational growth in the quarter.
We’re pleased that our new consumer campaigns continued to perform well, and our team has been effective in sharing new compelling clinical data with healthcare professionals. Padcev, another market leader in our portfolio, achieved 13% year-over-year global operational growth in the quarter. Padcev, in combination with pembro, continues to expand utilization and has been established as a standard of care first-line treatment for patients with locally advanced/metastatic urothelial cancer.
Our vaccine portfolio is a key area of focus in international markets. We’re pleased with the strong performance of the Prevnar family, driven by share gains and launches in several key markets. We achieved 17% year-over-year international operational growth in the quarter. Pfizer is the pediatric pneumococcal vaccination leader with public funding secured in about 140 national immunization programs around the world. After launching in the majority of key international markets, Prevenar Adult is the established leader among adult pneumococcal conjugate vaccines.
In the US, while we did experience a year-over-year decline in the quarter, we’re pleased with the overall performance of Prevnar 20. For adults, Prevnar held a market-leading position and grew with the expanded recommendation for adults over 50. In the pediatric market, accounting for about 60% of Prevnar revenues in the US, we experienced a delayed timing of government bulk order, which we have seen from time to time. So it’s a question of time.
I want to provide an update about the next-generation PCV programs. While we previously guided to a Phase 3 start for our adult 25-valent program in 2025, we are planning to start the study next year, if the FDA aligns with our approach. For our pediatric program, we expect fourth-dose data from our ongoing Phase 1/2 study early next year, and, pending positive data and regulatory feedback, have the potential to start both Phase 3 programs in 2026, streamlining our development approach and aligning with our strategy to provide a single vaccine across age groups.
We are committed to maintaining leadership in the PCV space and, as a reminder, our 25-valent vaccine candidate has the potential for improved immunogenicity for serotype 3, which is one of the largest remaining contributors of pneumococcal disease. Serotype 3 alone is estimated to cause approximately 20% of invasive disease in the 65-plus population in the US and EU.
Abrysvo also achieved significant International momentum, with 75% year-over-year operational growth in the quarter due to expanded access in key markets. In the US, we’re experiencing the headwind of a more difficult-to-activate population as we enter the third season of RSV. Still, we’re continuing to strengthen our position with a 59% market share in the US in shipped-dose volume in the quarter.
From the significant strategic milestones we’ve achieved in recent months to our solid financial performance, during this quarter, we are demonstrating how we are building for long-term value with near-term execution of our 2025 strategic priorities.
By committing to focus, simplification, and leveraging technology across our business, we are accelerating progress and improving productivity. In the quarter, we achieved another strong gross margin performance. Additionally, we were able to deliver adjusted diluted EPS that was ahead of expectations significantly, even with lower infection rates contributing to a revenue decline in our COVID-19 portfolio.
Our business is performing well, and we are raising the range of our adjusted diluted EPS guidance for full-year 2025, while also remaining committed to our dividend.
With that, I’ll turn it over to Dave.
Dave Denton — Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President
Thank you, Albert. Good morning, everyone. To begin this morning, I’d like to highlight that our solid financial performance directly reflects our continued disciplined execution of our key strategic priorities. We continue to prioritize enhanced patient outcomes as well as the achievement of our financial objectives.
Furthermore, our recent agreement with the US government demonstrates our ability to navigate in a complex external environment. Our cost improvement measures have driven greater organizational efficiency and streamlined decision-making, which is evident in the solid operating margin for this quarter.
Year-to-date, margins expanded despite the unfavorable impact of the acquired in-process R&D from the 3SBio transaction. Going forward, we expect to improve our cash flow and increase flexibility across our three capital allocation pillars. Our focus remains on creating long-term shareholder value. We will continue to invest in our business for the long term, evidenced by our recent business development activity, while prudently returning capital to our shareholders.
Now, with that, let me start with our third-quarter results, then I’ll touch on our cost improvement initiatives, as well as our capital allocation priorities. I’ll finish with a few comments on our 2025 guidance, which continues to improve as we move through this year.
For the third quarter of 2025, we recorded revenues of $16.7 billion, a decrease of 7% operationally versus the same period of last year. That’s largely driven by a decline in our COVID products. The decline was primarily due to Paxlovid, which experienced reduced demand from lower level of disease incidence, as well as last year’s one-time Paxlovid government stockpiling recorded in Q3 of ’24, and to a lesser extent, Comirnaty.
With that said, our non-COVID product performance was solid, growing 4% operationally versus same period of last year. On the bottom line, third quarter 2025 reported diluted earnings per share were $0.62 and adjusted diluted EPS was $0.87, ahead of our expectations, due to our overall gross margin and cost management performance. I’ll point out that this profit performance includes a headwind of approximately $0.20 of acquired in-process R&D from the 3SBio transaction.
Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of our refined commercial strategy. We remain committed to prioritizing key products and markets, optimizing the global allocation of our commercial field resources, and concentrating our marketing efforts on high-priority areas. We saw solid contributions across our product portfolio, primarily driven by Eliquis, Vyndaqel family, and Nurtec, but is more than offset by declines in Paxlovid and Comirnaty.
Through the first nine months of 2025, Pfizer’s recently launched and acquired products delivered $7.3 billion in revenues, while growing approximately 9% operationally versus last year. This lower growth rate in the third quarter, as compared to Q2 2025, was primarily driven by the timing of pediatric CDC shipments for Prevnar and a one-time favorable impact in Q2 for Seagen products transitioning to a wholesaler distribution model in the US. We plan to continue to invest behind these two product groups to drive their future performance and help enable the company to largely offset our LOEs over the next several years.
Our adjusted gross margin for the third quarter was approximately 76%, primarily reflecting the product mix in the quarter and continued strong cost management with our manufacturing footprint. As a reminder, over the past two years, our adjusted gross margins have generally remained in the mid to upper 70s, excluding Comirnaty, which has a 50/50 profit split with our partner BioNTech. We expect $1.5 billion in savings from Phase 1 of manufacturing optimization by the end of ’27 to support our long-term operating margin expansion goal. Going forward, cost management across our manufacturing network remains a top priority.
Total adjusted operating expenses were $7 billion for the third quarter of 2025, an increase of 21% operationally versus LY, driven in large part by the acquired in-process R&D expense from the 3SBio deal. Excluding the 3SBio deal, adjusted operating expenses contracted by approximately $150 million versus last year.
Looking at the components, adjusted SI&A expenses decreased 3% operationally, primarily driven by focused investments and ongoing productivity improvements that drove a decrease in marketing and promotional spend for various products; adjusted R&D expenses decreased 3% operationally as well, driven by a net decrease in spending due to pipeline focus and optimization, including the expansion of our digital capabilities; and finally, acquired in-process R&D expenses increased $1.4 billion, largely resulting from the 3SBio deal. As our adjusted SI&A and R&D expenses demonstrate, we continue to be disciplined with our operational expense management.
Q3 reported diluted earnings per share was $0.62 and our adjusted diluted earnings per share were $0.87, which benefited from our efficient operating structure. Additionally, EPS was aided by our effective tax rate, primarily driven by favorable changes in the jurisdictional mix of earnings and tax benefits related to global income tax resolutions in multiple jurisdictions spanning multiple tax years, partially offset by the aforementioned 3SBio acquired in-process R&D charge.
We continue to be disciplined with our operational expense management, progressing multiple cost improvement programs as we remain focused on driving operating margin expansion over the coming years.
Phase 1 of the manufacturing optimization program contributed savings in the third quarter. In addition, we remain on track to deliver on our goal of at least $4.5 billion in cumulative net cost savings from our ongoing cost realignment program by the end of this year.
As a reminder, in total from these programs, we expect approximately $7.7 billion in savings by the end of 2027 to drive operating efficiency, strengthening our business with the potential of contributing significantly to our bottom line over this period. Of these savings, approximately $500 million identified in R&D will be re-invested in the pipeline, which we expect by the end of 2026.
With that, now let me quickly touch upon our capital allocation strategy, which is designed to enhance long term shareholder value. Our strategy consists of maintaining and growing our dividend over time; reinvesting in our business at an appropriate level of financial return; and making value-enhancing share repurchases.
In the first nine months of 2025, we returned $7.3 billion to shareholders via our quarterly dividend; invested $7.2 billion in internal R&D; and invested approximately $1.6 billion in business development transactions, primarily reflecting the 3SBio licensing deal.
As a reminder, our business development capacity after the 3SBio deal is approximately $13 billion. In the third quarter, we announced the planned acquisition of Metsera for approximately $4.9 billion, with additional contingent value rights tied to successful pipeline progression. The transaction is expected to be funded through a mixture of available cash as well as debt. We expect the deal to be dilutive through 2030 as we continue to invest to enable further promising late-stage pipeline assets.
Specifically, we currently expect the Metsera transaction to be approximately $0.16 dilutive to 2026 adjusted EPS. Additionally, we expect another $0.05 of dilution in ’26 from the 3SBio deal, which closed in the third quarter. With that said, we believe the two deals set up a strong potential revenue growth trajectory in 2030 and beyond.
Lastly, for the first nine months of ’25, operating cash flow was approximately $6.4 billion, which includes the $1.35 billion upfront payment for the 3SBio transaction. Our gross leverage at the end of the third quarter was approximately 2.7 times. That said, upon the close of the Metsera transaction, our leverage is expected to be above the 2.7 times target. We expect to bring our leverage back down to the target levels over time to continue to support a balanced allocation of capital between reinvestment and direct return to shareholders.
Now, let me turn to our full-year 2025 guidance. As Albert noted, in September, we reached a new voluntary agreement with the US government that will help ensure US patients pay lower prices for prescription medicines while providing the clarity we need to focus on our business and our investment in future innovation. The agreement has no impact on our 2025 guidance, but we expect a dilutive impact to our 2026 financial outlook. We continue to expect full-year 2025 revenues to be in the range of $61 billion to $64 billion.
Non-COVID products continue to perform very well operationally and ahead of plan. However, we note there is softness in our COVID products due to lower vaccination rates and COVID infection rates. In addition, our guidance assumes a favorable impact to revenues from foreign exchange rates.
Furthermore, we now expect adjusted R&D to be in the range of $10 billion to $11 billion and our effective tax rate to be approximately 11%. Additionally, adjusted SI&A remains unchanged. Now, given our strong performance to date and fourth quarter outlook, including our more efficient cost structure, we are raising and narrowing our full-year 2025 adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance by approximately $0.08 at the midpoint to $3 a share to $3.15. I’d like to emphasize, our adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance substantially de-risks the current lower than anticipated COVID trends.
In closing, we remain committed to enhancing the value of our product portfolio and advancing innovation to further strengthen our pipeline. With a stronger balance sheet, we plan to continue deploying capital effectively. We aim to boost R&D productivity with digital tools including AI, prioritize investments in key R&D programs, and deliver new growth through business development.
Furthermore, our performance continues to exceed expectations and deliver strong results, even as the incidence of COVID remains low. This consistent performance highlights our resilience and commitment to excellence. Regardless of the changing external environment, our efforts to enhance cost efficiency are generating improvements in operating margins by driving productivity and optimizing processes.
Lastly, with the recent agreement with the US government, we can now focus on executing our strategy and our strategic priorities across our business to deliver new medicines for patients and enhance long-term shareholder value.
I’d like to just close by noting that it’s our expectation that we’ll provide guidance for 2026, most likely by the end of this year. With that, I will now turn it back over to Albert and we’ll begin our question-and-answer session.
Albert Bourla — Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Dave. So operator, please assemble the queue.
Questions and Answers:
Operator
[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Vamil Divan with Guggenheim Securities. Please go ahead.
Vamil Divan
Hi, great. Thanks for taking my question. I’m going to have to defer the Metsera questions to other analysts, but I’m curious to hear what you say there. I’ll just ask a couple more on the commercial side. So, one, Vyndamax, obviously, you’re facing more competition there. Surprised to see the performance there was a little sequential decline. So maybe you can just comment on the pricing and sort of the market share dynamics you’re seeing in that space, obviously, with the new competitors?
And then similar question on Padcev, obviously, great data that you shared at ESMO. The commercial uptake for the quarter at least a little bit less than we thought. So, maybe just how you’d expect the muscle invasive indication assuming you get that here soon to impact uptake of that program and kind of drive upside to where the numbers are right now. Thank you.
Albert Bourla
Thank you. Thank you, Vamil. Aamir?
Aamir Malik
Vamil, thanks for the question. So, let me start with your question on Vynda. And I’ll just — I want to level-set a couple of things about Vynda and then I’ll talk about the performance in the quarter.
So there’s obviously new competition in the category. And it’s important to note that Vynda is still the only ATTR-CM product that has statistically significant reductions in both mortality and CV-related hospitalizations together and as a standalone. And it’s also the only product where there is a once-daily capsule, placebo-like safety and near complete TTR stabilization. And we’ve got 90% access for Vyndamax across the US.
Now with regards to the quarter, there are a couple of different dynamics that are happening. First of all, we saw very strong demand growth and that’s reinforced by our continued market share leadership, both on a TRx basis clearly, but also in terms of first line share. Now that volume growth was offset by two gross-to-net headwinds. One is the IRA manufacturer rebates, which we’ve talked about before. And the second is what we alluded to last quarter, which is payer contracting that took place in the third quarter.
So, Vyndamax is performing exactly where we thought it would and consistent with what we guided and performance continues to reflect strong diagnosis, broad access, improving affordability dynamics and that’s going to continue to grow our volume.
We are seeing competition. Attruby is taking some first-line share from treatment-naive patients and Amvuttra has driven minimal switching to date. And as we kind of look-forward on Vynda, we’ll see some of these dynamics continue into Q4 as well, where we expect continued volume growth, but the two GTN drivers that I described will certainly impact our net sales, but Vynda is performing in the way that we expected.
On your question with regards to Padcev, we’re again very encouraged by how Padcev is doing. For us, we look at this through two lenses. First is the la/mUC population where we currently have about 55% share among cisplatin-ineligible patients and 45% to 50% share among cisplatin eligible. So there is headroom for us to continue to focus on that segment of the market.
I think your question with regards to how Padcev performed on consensus is related to the comment that Dave made, which is as part of integrating the Seagen products into the Pfizer portfolio, in Q2, we moved from a drop-ship model to a wholesaler model. So that resulted in a one-time growth in our Q2 sales. So you have to grow products off of that adjusted for two to three weeks of inventory. So as we cycle into Q4, we’d expect the whole Seagen portfolio, including Padcev, to return to growth.
And then finally, on MIDC, we’re excited about the possibility as a result of both the 303 and also 304 trials that are ongoing and that will open up a patient population of close to 22,000 patients to help with the next horizon of Padcev growth.
Albert Bourla
Thank you, Aamir. Next question, please.
Operator
We’ll go next to Dave Risinger with Leerink Partners.
David Risinger
Yes, thanks very much for taking my question and congrats on the performance in the quarter. So my question is on Metsera. Could you just comment on the legal process ahead? I know that Pfizer is arguing that Novo’s acquisition of Metsera would be anti-competitive. And even if the FTC doesn’t allow it, it could be anti-competitive. So could you just talk us through the clock and the process for courts to hear Pfizer’s arguments. Thanks very much.
Albert Bourla
Thank you, Dave. As I said in my opening comments, it is very difficult for us to start commenting when we have all these legal issues pending, as we speak. But I will repeat what I did say, which is kind of an answer to your question, not on the timing, but we don’t see how Novo’s deal can be superior. It is an illegal attempt by a foreign company to do an end run around antitrust laws, taking advantage of the government shutdown, what they want to achieve, not to get the products, to destroy them.
What they want is to cut and kill an emerging competitor, which is a significant antitrust concern given Novo’s dominant market position. So all I can say, it is that we are continuing to pursue all legal resources.
Thank you. Next question, please.
Operator
We’ll go next to Asad Haider with Goldman Sachs.
Asad Haider
Great. Thanks for taking the question. I guess just for Albert and Dave, just a quick high-level question on BD. What’s the plan if Metsera doesn’t work out for some reason? And then second, on 2026, any early framing on guidance pushes and pulls specifically on how we should think about OpEx with and without Metsera? And then any additional color on how to think about the dilution you mentioned from your recent MFN deal with the administration? Thank you.
Albert Bourla
Yeah. I will send the question to Dave because there are a lot of financial also elements. And then if Andrew wants to add something on the BD.
Dave Denton
Yeah. So maybe we’ll start with business development. Obviously, the company has still significant resources to understand on how to deploy successfully our transactions to bring science inhouse and we will continue to work aggressively to do so across all of our four therapeutic areas, and we continue to work across the globe to identify potential candidates for acquisition to help bring new and innovative medicines to patients. So that’s still a very ongoing focused activity for the company. I think it’s probably a little early to talk exactly about 2026.
You heard me give a little color in the sense that, clearly, we’re making investments today and those investments carry-over into ’26 and beyond with either Metsera or 3SBio to bring these innovative medicines to market. Those will have a slightly a dilutive effect to our operating performance next year. We will then wrap all that together with the puts and takes of ’26 when we give guidance by the end of this year.
Albert Bourla
Thank you. Anything to add on BD, Andrew?
Andrew Baum
Yeah. I’d echo what Dave said. We are very active in all geographies, especially in China. You saw this 3SBio, which adds a foundational asset to become the backbone across multiple indications. And the same is true in China and beyond across all the main therapeutic areas. We’ve increased the size of our team in China in particular and we have very active efforts. And when we have something to inform you, you’ll certainly be the first to know.
Albert Bourla
Thank you. Next question, please.
Operator
We’ll go next to Geoff Meacham with Citibank.
Geoff Meacham
Good morning, guys. Thanks so much for the question. I guess one for Albert or Dave. When you look at the manufacturing investments you’re making as part of the MFN agreement, relative to the operational cost efficiencies, how would you rank those as priorities? I guess both seem to have three-year time-frames. I’m just trying to get a sense of the incremental dollar and the strategy there. Thank you.
Dave Denton
Yeah. Clearly, there are important elements of our strategy. We’re going to clearly invest in the US from a production perspective. We’re working now to work-through our plans with the new agreement with the US government on how to effectively deploy our capacity here in the US and further build it out. So more to come. We will also provide some color to that when we give guidance for 2026. But we will be able to improve our manufacturing/operating infrastructure and, at the same time, invest in manufacturing here at the US and those two are not necessarily completely in conflict with one another. We’ll be able to do both.
Albert Bourla
Thank you. Next question, please.
Operator
We’ll go next to Courtney Breen with Bernstein.
Courtney Breen
Thank you so much for answering our question today. I really wanted to understand and perhaps another question on Metsera, but from a different angle. I wanted to understand, in your mind, what factors supported Pfizer in garnering that unprecedented early termination of the waiting period from the US Federal Trade Commission. That would be really helpful. Thank you so much.
Albert Bourla
I’m not sure I understood the question.
Francesca DeMartino
The FTC clearance.
Albert Bourla
Why the FTC clearance?
Francesca DeMartino
Are there any factors that drove the early?
Albert Bourla
If there are any factors? No, I think the FTC made their own decision. Of course, they were aware of these questions. So I don’t want to speak for them, but they decided that it is appropriate in the middle of a foreign attempt to supervening to just release our deal, which is now clear. So that’s all.
Dave Denton
I think it does further demonstrate the strength of our deal and the pathway to clearance and the pathway for us to be able to further develop these products and take them to the marketplace in a very rapid fashion. This is helpful to patients long-term, is helpful to prices long-term under our management and our direction with these assets.
Albert Bourla
Yeah. And should not be surprised because we all understand that’s the epitome of antitrust conflict. The entire pipeline of Metsera, it is the entire pipeline of Novo plus they have a dominant position with the current products that they have. Of course, FTC would worry about that. I don’t want to speak for themselves, but it is something that everybody understands.
All right. Next question please.
Operator
We’ll go next to Terrence Flynn with Morgan Stanley.
Terence Flynn
Hi, thanks for taking the question. Maybe two for me. You’ve previously talked Elrexfio being a key driver for you over the long-term. We noticed that MagnetisMM-5 trial was pushed out data into 2026. We know J&J had a similar trial in a similar patient population that just read-out. So maybe you could just remind us of any potential differences here in terms of your trial versus their trial and why there might be a difference in timing given they started around the same time?
And the second question is just a clarification on PAXLOVID dynamics for the quarter. It looks like, by our math, price per script went up over last quarter. So just wondering if there’s any one-time items that we need to think about here as we think about the trends in the fourth quarter. Thank you.
Albert Bourla
All right. Chris?
Chris Boshoff
Thanks for the question. So, MagnetisMM-5, as you know, is double-class exposed, possibly later this year, beginning next year. It’s an event-driven study. So, timing could shift due to events not happening, which we cannot speculate. But as you can imagine, that’s often positive if events are not happening in the study. So we’ll just continue to follow the events and hopefully and report early next year.
Dave Denton
And on the Paxlovid question, I don’t think there’s any material change in price. We have — maybe there’s different channels, mix and things of that nature, but nothing significant from that standpoint. Thank you.
Albert Bourla
Thank you for clarifying those. Let’s go to the next question, please.
Operator
We’ll go next to Akash Tewari with Jefferies.
Akash Tewari
Hey, thanks so much. I had a question on your upcoming Phase-3 EZH2 readout in CRPC. I’m surprised the study isn’t more prominently flagged given the potential to extend the Xtandi franchise. What drives your confidence that you’re getting adequate target exposure after examining some of your food effect studies? And also what’s your expectations around overall survival? Could we see a 20% to 30% benefit here? Thanks so much.
Albert Bourla
Chris, that’s for you.
Chris Boshoff
Thank you very much for the question. This is another first-in-class internally discovered program, EZH2 program. We’ve previously shared randomized data, which we showed significant PFS benefit in all-comers and late-line metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. And we now have three Phase 3 studies ongoing. The first one will read out, to your point, post-adiraterone metastatic hormone-resistant prostate cancer, and that we expect in the coming months.
We recently also presented data at ASCO and randomized data on the food effect to your question, which was 875 milligrams twice a day with food and show that the data comparable with the dose we now use in Phase 3 with reduced GIIE. So we are confident in the dose that was selected.
Albert Bourla
Thank you. Next question, please.
Operator
We’ll go next to Kerry Hofford with Berenberg.
Kerry Holford
Thank you for taking my question. Just on the guidance, please. For this year, you’ve fully reiterated the total revenue range of $61 billion to $64 billion. And when you first set that guidance, you spoke of total COVID-19 sales of around $9 billion for the year. Seeing that you booked only around just over $4 billion year-to-date, just interested in your comments around whether that $9 billion is still achievable for the full-year. And if not, what other assets would you call-out as likely to fill that gap and give you confidence to reiterate the total sales guidance?
Albert Bourla
Thank you, Dave, please.
Dave Denton
Yes. You’re absolutely right, Kerry, as you pointed out. I would say that, to the low-end of our guidance range, from a revenue perspective would assume that the COVID franchise continues a very modest uptake for the balance of this year, particularly in the US. However, as you know, the COVID franchise is subject to big peaks and valleys. If there happens to be a wave of COVID in the next several months, you can see utilization spike up. So that’s why the range is so large.
I’ll just point out that what we have done with an earnings per share guidance range is we’ve derisked the COVID franchise with the guidance that we provided, given that if the trends continue, we will be closer to the low-end of that range and we will still be able to deliver on our earnings commitment.
Albert Bourla
Thank you. Very clear, Dave. Let’s move to the next question, please.
Terence Flynn
We’ll go next to Mohit Bansal with Wells Fargo.
Mohit Bansal
Great. Thank you very much for taking my question. Just wanted to understand the thought process around the pricing of the GLP-1 and this class of medicines, given that, even today, there is a news article out there suggesting the price could be $150 or so. So it seems like the price is only going in one direction. In that case, how do you justify the price that you’re paying to Metsera, and in general, the obesity landscape, over time? How do you think about that with this pricing decline for the class? Thank you.
Albert Bourla
Yeah. Thank you. This is also competition brings prices down and, of course, they try not to restrict competition. But anyway, yes, in our calculations, we have taken into consideration that the prices of GLP-1s probably will start going down. So I don’t know what will be announced now. But in our calculations, we took already that into consideration.
Thank you, Mohit. Let’s go to the next question, please.
Operator
We’ll go next to Alex Hammond with Wolfe Research.
Alex Hammond
Thanks for taking the question. Can you elaborate more on the reason for the delay to the initiation of the pivotal trial for the adult 25 valent pneumococcal program? You’d mentioned the caveat of if the FDA aligns with your approach. So as the tenor of the dialogue change at the FDA, is there a chance that surrogate endpoints may no longer be approvable?
Albert Bourla
Thank you very much. Chris?
Chris Boshoff
Yeah, thank you for the question. Across all our vaccine programs, we’re obviously working very closely with the FDA and other regulators on the designs of the study and also the endpoint. And PCV25, pending positive data and FDA feedback, as mentioned, we intend to start that study as well as the pediatric 25 valent program next year. So it means we will align the pediatric and the adult study.
We expect the fourth dose data from the pediatric study early next year. So that helps us to coordinate the two studies that will just make it easier. And the 25 vaccine candidate covers 25 serotypes. I particularly need to point out serotype 3, which we did before, because the vaccine is designed with significantly enhanced immunogenicity against serotype 3, which currently constitutes up to 20% of infections in the US and the EU. And to continue our leadership, we also continue to study our fifth-generation with 30-plus serotypes, which we’ll update you on more in 2026. Thank you.
Albert Bourla
Thank you, Chris. Operator, the next question, please.
Operator
We’ll go next to Chris Schock with JPMorgan.
Chris Schott
Great. Thanks very much. Just maybe two MFN questions. First one is kind of bigger picture. As you think about MFN on new launches over time, what do you think about this suggesting for international revenues? Is this — I guess, I could read this as a net positive that you get higher price. I could read as net negative because reimbursement hurdle is going to be tougher at these higher prices. It could be neutral. How you kind of envisioned what plays out with international as you signed that deal?
And then the second one is just trying to get a little bit more color on the MFN impact for 2026. I think you mentioned some dilution there, but just any more quantitative metrics you can provide of just like how much of a headwind is that for next year? Thanks so much.
Albert Bourla
Yes. I’m sorry if I asked Dave to tell you, which he will tell you, he will provide guidance at the end of the year, and that will incorporate everything, including that and the other things that you have us talking. So I don’t think you will get more words out of our mouth, no matter how much you torture.
But on the new launches in international, of course, we are waiting to see how things may play. The price differential is not sustainable. We are speaking about the smaller basket of countries in international that are affected by that. And with these countries, we are hoping that they will understand that they need to change the way that they price their products going forward.
Of course, a little bit help from the US government and USTR through trade negotiations also can make that happen. And my assessment is that the Howard Lutnick and the US trade representatives are highly, highly committed to make this go away. So we will see how that plays.
But in theoretical, if the prices over there are — they are not — we are not agreeing a decent way of pricing our products, clearly, we will not get reimbursement there, and we will price them to the price that will not affect the US price.
Thank you. And now let’s go to the next question, please.
Operator
We’ll go next to Umer Raffat with Evercore ISI.
Umer Raffat
Good morning, guys. First, on Metsera, I realize this is perhaps in the hands of your M&A lawyers and antitrust lawyers, but from an R&D perspective, can we make sure you’ll be evaluating all the new data that’s imminent? For example, the monthly transition and how the GI tolerability holds as well as, even more importantly, the amylin plus GLP early combo data?
And then separately, I was very intrigued by a Phase 2b trial you guys initiated on an oral drug in atopic derm. Could you confirm if it’s a STAT-6 inhibitor? And were you able to gauge the magnitude of STAT-6 inhibition Phase 1?
Albert Bourla
Thank you. Yeah, thanks. Look, on the Metsera, it’s easy if they provide us data or if they publicize data. Of course, we will — we are eager to see that. And we believe it will be positive. On the second question, I will ask Chris to comment.
Chris Boshoff
And thank you, Umer, to ask a question regarding our I&I portfolio. I just want to check, are you referring to PF-0009820? Okay. So you are correct, that is a STAT inhibitor. I want to point out that we currently have a very differentiated I&I portfolio with at least five molecules in-house discovered and developed. Most of these at a significantly accelerated speed, including obviously P40-TL1A, which we co-develop or which is being co-developed with Roche, which covers IL-12 and IL-23 via P40. Our two tri-specifics and covering IL-4, IL-13, TSNL-PO, IL-33, both of those now entering Phase 2 for atopic dermatitis and for other TH2-related diseases.
Litfulo, with the ongoing Phase 3 trial in non-segmental vitiligo, which is a JAK3/TEC inhibitor, also differentiated in-house. And then, the STAT-6 early, just entering Phase 2 could be potentially first-in-class oral. We currently further optimizing dose and formulation, and hope to update you on that program in 2026. Thank you.
Albert Bourla
Thank you very much. Next question, please.
Operator
We’ll go next to Steve Scala with TD Cowen.
Steve Scala
Thank you so much. Two questions. What does the drug pricing deal with Trump allow Pfizer to do that other companies will not be able to do, other than, of course, AstraZeneca?
And secondly, on Metsera, so the data looks more similar than different than competitors, and Metsera disclosures haven’t been completely transparent, raising serious questions. Many other big-cap pharmas have passed over Metsera when pursuing other products, validating the me-too point. Nothing in all this justifies a bidding war or even a protracted legal battle. Is Pfizer’s determination to persist underpinned by substantial confidential data or simply the desire to be a player in obesity or does Pfizer agree with the points that I just said, and could it just walk away? Thank you.
Albert Bourla
Thank you. On the first one, on the drug prices and what we have that other companies may not have, I can’t answer because I don’t know what the other companies are having. As you know, the discussions are between the administration and individual companies, which also ensure that there is no antitrust issues. And also, of course, they are confidential because that’s also what the administration and the agreements portray that we should keep confidentiality of those. So I know what we are getting, some of that has been public, and some of that is part of the overall very lengthy deal, but I don’t know what others will take.
On the Metsera, look, we have seen — the data, we did extensive due diligence. And we priced the asset into a price that we thought offers tremendous value to the shareholders of Metsera and to shareholders of Pfizer because those assets that we like in our hands, of course, will provide significant competitive edge.
And what you see now it is a repeat, an effort to cut and kill our this emerging competitor, which is Pfizer. And to do that by evading the antitrust scrutiny and virtually get control — de facto control of the company as they will become the major shareholder and the major creditor without any regulatory scrutiny.
So that’s all I have to say. And we will see how things go. Let’s move to our next question, please.
Operator
Our next question comes from Evan Seigerman with BMO.
Evan Seigerman
Hi guys. Thank you so much for taking my question. Assuming Metsera closes, what near-term factors must you consider to continue growing the dividend and then delevering, Dave, as you had said? When do you think you may be able to also start to repurchase shares? Or is that less of a priority with all this BD. Thank you so much.
Dave Denton
Yeah. Evan, very good question. Obviously, you’ve seen us over the last year-and-a-half or two years really lean into productivity across our platform. That productivity has allowed us to delever from roughly 4 times to 2.7 times. That’s given us increased flexibility to do both business development as well as maintain and grow our dividend over time. That cycle of improvement in productivity is something that we’ve now embedded in the company.
We will continue to do that. We will continue to do that across the enterprise. We will continue to prioritize ourselves from an R&D perspective. Clearly, we have several assets that we think are key to the growth of this company by the end of the decade. We are going to invest behind those assets from a pipeline perspective, and we’re going to invest behind the categories of products that we’ve either acquired and/or recently launched because those will ultimately allow us to offset the LOEs over the next several years. So we’ll be able to do all of that.
Share repurchases is an important lever for us. In the near term, it’s not a tool that we’re going to use. We have to get the balance sheet back to where we need to be. And we — again, we have business priorities that come in the forefront of that at this point. Great question. Thank you.
Albert Bourla
Okay. So now I think, let’s get the last question.
Operator
Our last question comes from Rajesh Kumar with HSBC.
Rajesh Kumar
Good morning. Two questions, if I may. I appreciate you cannot say a lot about Metsera at this junction. Just from a modeling perspective, if we are thinking of additional balance sheet capacity for deal-making, how much capacity would you assume, assuming that you are keeping some capacity away from Metsera at the moment, in 2026, on your own internal budgeting, that would be really helpful.
And just on the 3SBio, I appreciate the deal has just closed and some of the trials have just started. When can we expect to see data news flow come out of that deal? Is it more of a 2027 event, or do we have any interim readouts or updates in ’26?
Albert Bourla
Thank you. I think Dave can answer the Metsera modeling.
Dave Denton
Yeah. So, as you think about BD capacity, as I said in my prepared remarks, we have approximately $13 billion of capacity as we enter here into the third quarter. So with that —
Albert Bourla
Chris, let’s understand the 3SBio.
Chris Boshoff
Yeah, the data flows. So just a reminder, ASCO 2025, we shared Phase 2 monotherapy and data in first-line non-small cell lung cancer showing the overall objective response at 65%. At ESMO, Phase 2 combo data plus chemotherapy ZLOXO was shown for first-line metastatic colorectal cancer and that was showing a response rate of close to 60%. At SITC, we’ll provide additional data, combination data in lung cancer.
And you’ve just seen we posted two Phase 3 programs starting now this year in first-line non-small cell lung cancer and in first-line colorectal cancer. And in the coming weeks, we’ll also provide the full development plan to you at an event, and that will be — show the breadth and the depth of our clinical development program for 707.
Albert Bourla
Thank you, Chris. So thank you very much all for your attention. We have been successful in achieving a series of significant strategic milestones. We delivered a solid performance during the quarter and we are confident in our business and that’s why we are raising the rates of our adjusted diluted EPS and, of course, we maintain our range revenue despite the lowest COVID right now trends.
So thank you for your interest in Pfizer and I hope you have a wonderful week.
Operator
[Operator Closing Remarks]